New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern thanked her country in her last official speech as prime minister. The overwhelming majority of New Zealanders showed her “love, empathy and kindness”, the 42-year-old said at a Maori event honoring Tahupōtiki Wiremu Rātana, the founder of a religious and political movement in the Pacific nation.
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Ardern wore a traditional Maori feather coat. Already in 2018 she had appeared at a dinner at Buckingham Palace in London with such a cover – called “Korowai”. She thanks the people of New Zealand from the bottom of her heart for “the greatest privilege of my life”, the politician said, referring to her office.
Ardern surprisingly announced his resignation last week. She said she didn’t have the strength and “didn’t have enough in the tank” to continue. The popular Labor politician gained prominence in media around the world when she became the world’s youngest female prime minister in 2017, aged just 37. In 2020 she was re-elected.
His successor will be Chris Hipkins, former Secretary of Police and Education. The 44-year-old former president is expected to be sworn in on Wednesday. In his speech, Ardern praised him as “likable and down to earth”. She is sure he will make a “wonderful prime minister”. In the Corona crisis, in which New Zealand introduced extremely strict rules, Hipkins was the minister responsible for containing the pandemic.